"The Tinder Swindler" Detained in Georgia Following a Request from Germany

A Georgian court has remanded Israeli national Shimon Hayut, the focus of a 2022 Netflix documentary, in custody for three months pending a possible extradition request from Germany.

An Israeli man dubbed “The Tinder Swindler” in a popular Netflix documentary has been detained in Georgia at Interpol’s request, after Germany accused him of conning a woman out of tens of thousands of euros in Berlin.

A Georgian court on Tuesday ordered Shimon Hayut, 34, held for three months pending possible extradition proceedings, according to a copy of the ruling obtained by OCCRP.

His lawyer, Sagiv Rotenberg, confirmed to OCCRP that Hayut was arrested Sunday morning at Batumi International Airport in connection with an Interpol notice issued at Germany’s request.

“During these three months, Germany can send a request for extradition to Georgia — or they might not do it,” Rotenberg told OCCRP. “Of course, he denies all the allegations.”

Shimon Hayut, also known as Simon Leviev, gained notoriety as the subject of a 2022 Netflix documentary in which several women he met on the dating app Tinder accused him of duping them out of their money.

The Netflix documentary claimed that he wooed the women with costly, extravagant dates, posed as the son of a diamond magnate, then feigned personal crises to persuade them to open credit lines or provide loans to bail him out before disappearing and leaving them with the bills.

OCCRP has obtained Interpol documents detailing the German authorities’ accusation that, between 2017 and 2019, Hayut convinced a woman to cover his phone, credit card, and travel expenses, which he racked up to nearly €44,000 ($52,000), breaking promises to pay her back.

In 2019, The Times of Israel reported that a Tel Aviv court convicted Hayut on four fraud charges — unrelated to the German authorities’ accusation — sentencing him to 15 months in prison. He was reportedly released five months into his sentence due to COVID-19 measures.

In a 2022 interview with the U.S. TV show Inside Edition, Hayut denied conning the women and pretending to be the heir of a diamond mogul, insisting he was a “legitimate businessman” who got rich through investing in Bitcoin.

Rotenberg, Hayut’s lawyer, told OCCRP that he had spoken to him following Tuesday’s court ruling in Batumi, and that his client complained about prison conditions, saying he was being deprived of water and kosher food.

According to the Georgian court documents, Hayut maintains the right to appeal the decision granting his three-month detention within seven days.